The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 68, July 1964 - April, 1965 Page: 524

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

at the age of seventy-four. Both Julien and his father decided
that Montgomery County did not have a healthful climate, and
moved permanently to Rusk County in May, 1846. There, Julien
again established a plantation, which he named Monte Verdi.
Julien and John Devereux may have been typical southern
planters, but they were not typical East Texans of the 1840's and
1850's. Yet Julien Sidney Devereux and his Monte Verdi Planta-
tion give an intimate view of plantation life in East Texas in
that period. Julien Devereux was frank to admit that he was the
father of two children born out of wedlock, and he gave them
a home and provided for them in his will. He also was fond of
his slaves and worried about the ones who gave trouble. One
cannot be sure that he worried too much about babies being
born to his female slaves, however, for though there is an ac-
count of a slave marriage, a child was born some three months
later.
Julien Devereux had the pleasure of living in an uncompleted
Monte Verdi for only a short time, and Sarah Ann had the planta-
tion home completed after his death. Monte Verdi in south-
western Rusk County has recently been restored, and stands at
present as an example of ante-bellum plantation architecture in
Texas. C. K. CHAMBERLAIN
Stephen F. Austin State College
The Confederate Quartermaster in the Trans-Mississippi. By
James L. Nichols. Austin (University of Texas Press), 1964.
Pp. vii+126. Bibliography, illustrations, index. $4.50.
"Head for the sound of guns"-this seems to be the guiding
maxim of both writers and readers of military historical works.
It is there, in the thick of action with the fighting arms, that the
heroism, the adventure, and the color of warfare are to be found.
But how much attention is given to administrative and logistical
services whose functions are so vital to every clash of arms?
Usually the "rear echelon" persons are brushed aside as drab
clerks who waste their time filling out meaningless forms and
who contribute a bare minimum to the overall martial effort.
In Civil War military studies, of the hundreds of books appearing
each year, only a few do more than begrudgingly acknowledge

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